Mavic 3 vs DJI Air 2s Complete Comparison ( is the upgrade worth it?)

[canadian drone videos]

This is flawed info.... given that both the 1" sensor and the 4/3 sensor on the Mavic 3 / Air 2s are 5K+, the difference between two images produced from the drones will come down to the quality of the sensor, the light gathering ability of the larger pixels in the 4/3 camera and the optics.

The M3 is likely to produce a better image when cropped than the Air 2s but it is not simply because it has a 4/3 sensor... it will depend on the overall quality of the camera.

The file size of a RAW Air2s photo is around 20mb, file size of the M3 RAW photo will be around 40mb. So how is this information incorrect?

The x5s produces 40mb raw stills, and since the M3 has the identical sensor then what your essentially saying is an A2s photo is comparable to an I2 x5s photo.

Your comparing 5.1k, from two sensors that are completely different sizes. A one minute M3 clip in 5k will have twice as much data in it as a one minute A2s 5k clip. You can’t compare the two sensors they are not similar in any way.

 

[vindibona1]

This is flawed info.... given that both the 1" sensor and the 4/3 sensor on the Mavic 3 / Air 2s are 5K+, the difference between two images produced from the drones will come down to the quality of the sensor, the light gathering ability of the larger pixels in the 4/3 camera and the optics.

The M3 is likely to produce a better image when cropped than the Air 2s but it is not simply because it has a 4/3 sensor... it will depend on the overall quality of the camera.

Here's where it gets a bit tricky. Image quality, or lack there of is not one dimensional. What I learned early on in digital photography is that the achilles heel of digital is DETAIL AT DISTANCE. In other words, the further the camera/lens/sensor is from the subject the more detail you lose. The second aspect of the "weak link in the system" is the ability of the lens to transmit light with the least amount of distortion or aberration possible. When trying to assume variances of image quality and how much difference in real life one has to take into consideration not only the sensor, but the lens which work in tandem.

Those of us who have, in film, switched from 35mm to medium format know that we had to have a longer focal length lens to achieve the same FOV when moving up to a large format. A similar situation occurs when going from APS-C sensors to full frame. So when comparing, the M3 to the M2P, while the M3 has a larger sensor, it also has a wider FOV ( 84° vs 77°) and consequently both drones at the same distance the M2P will look like it is closer. The M3 will appear farther away and to achieve the same image area would have to enlarge the image. And that brings up another question that I don't think we'll get an answer to: Is the lens/window on the M3 any better quality than that of the M3? We must recognize that we're not talking about $2000 of Zeiss glass on the front of these drones.

Edit: I failed to point out above that when switching from 35mm to medium format (equivalent to larger sensor) MUCH more expensive glass was required to take advantage of the larger film for maximum resolution. I have some Hasselblad lenses which by themselves cost $4000. And perhaps 1" or 4/3 sensors exceed the resolution of the best medium format film one has to then question or ask, since DJI put in a larger sensor in the M3, what did they do to improve the lens from the M2 to the M3???

I would have to imaging that the M3 will produce better images than the M2P. But in all situations, or just some, and how much better?

 

[canadian drone videos]

The file size of a RAW Air2s photo is around 20mb, file size of the M3 RAW photo will be around 40mb. So how is this information incorrect?

The x5s produces 40mb raw stills, and since the M3 has the identical sensor then what your essentially saying is an A2s photo is comparable to an I2 x5s photo.

Your comparing 5.1k, from two sensors that are completely different sizes. A one minute M3 clip in 5k will have twice as much data in it as a one minute A2s 5k clip. You can’t compare the two sensors they are not similar in any way.

You can’t compare a good quality 5k 1” sensor to a good quality2” sensor, the res is only one spec. The pixel in the M3 is twice the size as the 2s. For example I’d rather have 1080 in a full frame sensor then 8k in a 1/24 sensor any day. You can not compare the two sensors, one has twice the horsepower then the other.

 

[Saladshooter]

The file size of a RAW Air2s photo is around 20mb, file size of the M3 RAW photo will be around 40mb. So how is this information incorrect?

Now you are mixing still photography with a discussion about video. My Air 2s RAW files are 40mb so I am not sure where you pull your info.

The x5s produces 40mb raw stills, and since the M3 has the identical sensor then what your essentially saying is an A2s photo is comparable to an I2 x5s photo.

The X5S and the M3 both have micro 4/3 sensors.... not the same sensor or optics. The Mavic 3 should compare pretty well with the Air 2s but both will likely fall behind the X5s glass. Mavic 3 has about 6x the light gathering capability as the Air 2S so it should blow it away in low light conditions but during bright daylight it will come down to the camera not the size of the sensor.

Your comparing 5.1k, from two sensors that are completely different sizes. A one minute M3 clip in 5k will have twice as much data in it as a one minute A2s 5k clip. You can’t compare the two sensors they are not similar in any way.

The amount of data recorded per minute will be subject to all of the different settings on the drone, bit rate, compression format, frame rate, bit depth and so on. In a previous post you said you haven't even flown your M3 yet..... how about taking some videos in various settings and make some estimates of the GB/minute.

 

[Macabre]

To be honest that upgraded sensor and variable aperture is a huge deal compared to 2s. And with 46 minute flight time, I'd be fine with 1, max 2 batteries.
Now does the price justify the upgrades? Only you can answer that.
To me, no. but if Air 3 has variable f-stop (which is extremely important to me), I'll be selling 2s and getting that.